Development of a Sediment Drift: Feni Drift, NE Atlantic Margin

Abstract

Feni Drift is one of the major sediment dr ifts in the NE Atlantic Ocean and by far the longest (McCave and Tucholke 1986; Evans 1997; Fangères et al. 1999). It is an elongate and mounded contourite deposit located along the western margin of the Rockall Trough in the NE Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). The Feni Drift and the other sediment drifts present in the Rockall Trough and Hatton-Rockall Basin formed under the influence of deep bottom water currents such as North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), Norwegian Sea Deep Water (NSDW) and Labrador Sea Water (LSW) which are part of the global thermohaline circulation system. The maximum width of Feni Drift is in the order of 125 km, the length is about 1,300 km and the maximum thickness is more than 900 m. The maximum crest height is approximately 2,100 m below the sea surface.Fig. 1.Map of the European Atlantic margin, west of Ireland and the British Isles. Hatched area: Feni Drift (after Evans 1997). Grey lines with black arrows, Main oceanographic surface currents; black lines with white arrows, main oceanographic bottom currents (currents after van Aken and Becker 1996). Detailed seismic sections indicated with figure numbers